Not to help catch a stray/escaped dog! Now it’s my fault it’s been injured apparently!

[notmyproblems]

Someone’s dog keeps escaping and for some reason it kept making its way into my garden. It had been dodging cars apparently and being a nuisance. Regularly have people knocking asking is it mine.

Two weeks ago someone saw it run into my garden and they were banging on the door . I answered (I was WFH and busy) and they were demanding to be allowed into the garden to keep hold of the dog till the warden could get there. I said no. Wait till it goes back out again (I didn’t want someone I don’t know in my house / garden) then catch it and secure it .

Ive since got the gap fixed and the dog can’t get in anymore. Haven’t seen it

Had a knock on the door today (same person) saying the dog had been hit by a car and they’d had to take it to a vet and how it all could have been avoided had I allowed them access and they hoped I was happy with having it on my conscience. So i just closed the door as they were still talking which made them shout and bang on the door???

Im not the irresponsible dog owner so it’s not my fault !

Where did she say she'd done that?

Yeah a lot of them are opportunistic attackers actually.

I don’t understand how it’s your fault their dog escaped, your fault it was in your garden, your fault you fixed your fence so it couldn’t get in and now your fault it’s run over.

surely all this is the owners fault?

All of this.

YANBU. If there was an injury on your property he could have sued you. We had a spate of burglaries last Spring and Summer in our area. I had a knock on the door from someone who claimed that their dog had escaped and made its way into my garden. They were moving house and the dog escaped during the chaos of moving. He asked to come through to the garden to get the dog I wasn’t aware of. I said I would check first and if the dog was there I would then open the side gate. The dog was in my garden and I gave the man access and all was good and he left with the dog. I didn’t allow access through my house because although the likelihood of him being dangerous was very low, I still didn’t want to be in that position and I wouldn’t have allowed a situation where a strange person was waiting in my garden for a few hours.

Joke is, this random man isn’t even the owner

Is the fact the man was trying to help the dog enough of a reason to think he was a nice person? That’s new to me. And his subsequent behaviour shows the OP was right to be careful.

Fwiw if he was that worried about the dog, he should have waited near the hole in the fence. He didn’t.
Why? Probably because he was also expecting the OP to ‘look after him’ whilst waiting. Aka provide a chair, cups of tea etc… But to do it the ‘hard way’ was too much for him. What a surprise.

You did the right thing @notmyproblems for him to be banging on your door two weeks later is strange behaviour.

It is the dog owner who is at fault.

surely all this is the owners fault?

Of COURSE it is. But feckless owners, and to be fair a good proportion of the general public who are obsessed with their own animals, think that everyone else should be as obsessed with animals as they are, and drop everything instanteously to help, whatever the situation.

Never has the phrase "barking" been more appropriate.

@notmyproblems
Dog owner is entirely to blame here.

I tried to catch a perennially escaping large dog once and it bit me - However was extremely grateful for a lovely street sweeper who caught a terrified dog who was let loose to save herself when an XLBully was after her.

Dog warden said releasing dog was only way to give her a chance of outrunning the aggressor.

Serious lack of survival instincts on display on this thread 😱

If a stranger knocks on your door and asks to come in, even if they have a really legit story about a lost dog or they're doing building work for your neighbour or their car broke down, don't let them in.
And tell your kids that too!

You did absolutely nothing wrong. Not your circus, not your monkeys. You were working.

I would bet you anything if you were a male WFH who had denied access to your garden for an unforeseen amount of time then no one would have chapped your door and shouted at you. It’s the lone female aspect that encourages that behaviour. I’m delighted you slammed the door in their face. Good for you.

Right? Oh, but he likes dogs. So did Myra Hindley.

This. I would have called the dog warden.

You sound horrible OP tbh.

The bloke had called the warden & wanted to wait in Op's garden for an unspecified length of time until the warden arrived.

The ultimate blame is with the owners but I'd definitely have let someone stay in the garden, I don't see what skin off your nose that would have been. Stranger and strange dog in the actual house, no obviously, but what's the harm of giving someone access to your garden for a bit?

The outcome for the dog was no different than if you hadn't been at home. Its not your fault, and I wouldn't let a strange bloke into my house either.

Honestly, it likely would have taken you less time to duck out to garden, grab dog, shove it out front door to person and tell them it was their problem to look after it somewhere else till the warden got there.

Edited to add in case not clear, I’m not saying let the person into your house. Tell them you’ll just be a minute. Shut the front door. Duck out back door, grab dog, open front door and shove dog onto them. Shut door.

It's not totally your fault - mainly the owner's obviously - but you had a chance to rescue a stressed dog and you declined - albeit with good reason. I wouldn't let a man in my house either. What I absolutely would do is take the lead, grab the dog and hand it over, regardless of work because the risk to the dog would outweigh work for me. But that's an individual choice and you made yours and you just have to live with it. I'm guessing it's okay with you to have acted that way, so no big deal. It does, however, mean a chance to stop the dog getting hurt was missed. That's just a fact.

Grab the dog with what?

Seeming the bloke wasn't willing to grab the dog either!

She was working.
In many jobs you can't just swan off when you want, even if a stranger tells you there's a dog you need to be responsible for.

Jeezus. Do you struggle with comprehension. Go back and read my comments and see if you can manage to piece them together. Maybe get a safe adult to help you.

There is no way I'd let a random man through my house and in my garden for an indefinite amount of time.

You suggested an alternative - wait at the gap.

Yanbu.

The dog didn't get hurt though?

It was run over 2 weeks later when the OP had already blocked up her garden.

I definitely wouldn't be grabbing a lead (from where?) and trying to catch a stressed dog though, that sounds like a recipe for getting bitten.